STANDING BETWEEN THE POSTERS she helped create is Michele Baumgart of the local traffic safety task force. In the foreground is the image of a Shelton woman and her child after the man of the house was killed in a drunk-driving accident. Behind Baumgart is a poster re-creating the arrest of a minor in possession of alcohol. The posters are on Mason Transit buses.

Light industry in Shelton

Workers move the traffic signal at the southeast corner of First Street and Railroad Avenue in downtown Shelton. The job required moving the traffic signal pole on the southeast corner of the intersection some 15 feet further east on Railroad. The signal was identified as a traffic hazard, especially for trucks turning at the intersection. Moving the traffic signal will improve the safety and flow of traffic at the intersection and is part of the Olympic Highway South Pedestrian and State Route 3 Safety Improvements project. The Washington State Department of Transportation is a partner with the city in this project.

SHELTON NATIVE Mark Miller is the manager of the newest and most advanced marine container terminal in Washington State. Evergreen Terminal opened operations at the Port of Tacoma in mid-December. At $210 million, the terminal is the port's largest-ever capital project and took about two years to build, Miller said recently at a meeting of the Hood Canal Kiwanis Club where he was the guest speaker. Miller, age 33, was born and raised in Shelton and graduated from Shelton High School in 1989. He attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, and graduated in 1993 with a degree in marine transportation.

THREE SOUTHSIDE seventh-graders have taken first prize in an annual student film contest. The students are, from left, Sarah Johnson, Jennie DeAndre and Julianne Sloane, with faculty advisor Dan McGovern in the background. Competition included films from schools throughout Washington, Oregon and Montana.

TAKING A BREAK from a sound check and rehearsal in the Shelton High School Auditorium are the members of Runaway Train. Band members pictured from left to right are Greg Linder, Teasy Ryken, Larry Gilliam and John Pyles. Not pictured is Tom Foote. They'll play with five other bands at the Bluegrass from the Forest on Friday and Saturday, April 8-9 at the Shelton High School Auditorium, 3737 Shelton Springs Road. Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the City of Shelton for ongoing work to improve Callanan Park.

THANKS TO VANDALS, students at Olympic Middle School won't be able to use their new athletic field this spring. Sometime Monday night or early Tuesday morning, Shelton School District officials believe a pair of four-wheel-drive vehicles drove onto the field and spun a number of donuts, tearing up the turf and breaking at least four sprinkler heads. Damage was estimated at between $1,500 and $2,000.

Shelton fastpitch All-American Shannon Beeler has been voted into the Shelton-Mason County Sports Hall of Fame. The '95 Climber grad joined 16 past inductees in permanent enshrinement last month by unanimous vote of the board.

Hunter Eric Hawkins' bragging rights have gone officially state-wide.

The rack from the monster elk the 42-year-old Shelton man shot in the high country near Forks last fall with his trusty muzzle loader turns out to be #2 all-time on the Washington recordboard.

Intersection improvements
under way

Crews from the Department of Transportation began work to realign the intersection of State Route 3 and State Route 106 on Monday. The work, which is the first phase in a revamp that will eventually include a traffic light, was expected to be completed this week. A popular Belfair monument sign that was at the site will be reinstalled nearby at a later date.

NORTH MASON's Relay for Life chairperson Kathy Tietz and fellow volunteer Joyce Hansen share information about an upcoming dinner for Mason County cancer survivors with Louise Fortman. The relay is set for June 17 and 18 at North Mason High School.